Spreadsheet programs make it easier to analyze and manipulate numerical data. When using a spreadsheet program, use care in setting up the tabular format for your data and in the data entry process. The information produced by the spreadsheet program is only as good as the data that is entered.
Data Entry Process
1. Open Saved Project File.
2. Activate cell A1 by clicking in the cell if it is not already active. (Generally this cell is active by default upon opening the program.) We are going to set up a table for the data we have gathered on the city of Memphis. In Cell A1 we are going to let our readers know that the data in this table is from the city of Memphis by typing the word city in cell A1.
3. Use the Tab Key on your keyboard to move into cell B1 (the cell just to the right of cell A1) to activate it. In Cell B1 we will type Memphis, TN, USA. Notice that our words will flow right over the line break for cell C1. This is perfectly OK.
4. Move to the next row by using your mouse to move your cursor and clicking in Cell A2 to activate it. Type the Word Day in Cell A2. Use the Tab Key on your keyboard to move to the next cell in the row -- Cell B2.
5. In cell B2 type the abbreviation for Sunday. (Make sure you use capital letters and properly punctuate your abbreviations.) Use the Tab Key to move on to the next cell in the row and enter the abbreviation for Monday. Continue this process for the entire week Sunday through Saturday. Your last active cell should be H2. See the Example Below.
6. Using your mouse, click in cell A3 to activate it. Enter the label Date in this cell.
7. Move to the next cell using the Tab Key on the Keyboard. Enter the dates corresponding to that day from your Data Collection Sheet using this format Month/Day/Year. For example: 4/3/2011 .
8. Notice the dark box around the active cell with the small X in the lower right hand corner. Using your mouse, place the cursor on the small X on the corner and left click. While holding down the left mouse button drag the box all the way across the row to cell H3 and release the left click button on the mouse. Excel will automatically fill in the sequential dates for you. This will work for any data that follows a standard sequential pattern. This is an extremely handy, time saving shortcut.
9. Use mouse to navigate to Cell A4 and activate the cell by clicking in it. Type the following information in the cell
Actual High Temp in
10. At this point we must insert a symbol for degrees. To do this, use your mouse to select the Insert Menu from the Menu Bar. A drop down menu will appear. Select the Symbol option from this menu.
11. Follow the directions on the diagram to locate and insert the degree symbol.
12. Close the Insert Symbol box and notice that the Symbol for degrees now shows up in your information entry. Type a capital letter F for Fahrenheit. Your worksheet should now look like this.
13. At this point, it may be a good idea to save your work by clicking the floppy disk icon in the Standard Toolbar or using the Ctrl+S keyboard command. You may also use the Save command found in the File Menu.
14. Notice, once again the words flow over the unoccupied cells to the right, but we are going to be using those cells at this time to enter data so we need to make some adjustments. We will first change the size of the A column.
15. The text in the A column still does not quite fit, but we want to be able to print our table on a regular sheet of paper and we can't make it any wider so we must tell Excel to wrap the text in the cells in the A column. This is called formatting and requires the use of the Format Menu.
16. Follow the directions in the diagram to set Text Wrapping in the Column A Cells.
17. Now your text should fit well inside the A4 cell and you are ready to enter the data you collected for the actual high temps for each date. Use the Tab Key to move to the next cell on the right and enter the numerical value only (we have indicated the units in the row label). Continue this process until you have entered the actual high data for all seven days. (Remember the data in the example below will not match your data.)
18. I suggest saving your work after completing each data entry row. Continue entering Row Labels and data until you have completed the data entry for your first city. When complete your table should look something like this.
19. Once you have entered all of your data, you may want to do some minor tweaking. For example, I think I may make the A column a bit narrower by clicking on the line between the A and B columns and dragging it back toward the left a bit. I think I will also center the day and date headings over the data column. To do this I will click in the first cell I want to change the alignment in which is the Sun. cell. I then will hold the mouse button down, dragging the mouse across all the cells in which I want to change the alignment. Release left mouse button and then click the center align icon in the formatting toolbar.
20. Follow the same procedure to enter the data for your assigned city. Begin new table in Cell A15.
Data Entry Process
1. Open Saved Project File.
2. Activate cell A1 by clicking in the cell if it is not already active. (Generally this cell is active by default upon opening the program.) We are going to set up a table for the data we have gathered on the city of Memphis. In Cell A1 we are going to let our readers know that the data in this table is from the city of Memphis by typing the word city in cell A1.
3. Use the Tab Key on your keyboard to move into cell B1 (the cell just to the right of cell A1) to activate it. In Cell B1 we will type Memphis, TN, USA. Notice that our words will flow right over the line break for cell C1. This is perfectly OK.
4. Move to the next row by using your mouse to move your cursor and clicking in Cell A2 to activate it. Type the Word Day in Cell A2. Use the Tab Key on your keyboard to move to the next cell in the row -- Cell B2.
5. In cell B2 type the abbreviation for Sunday. (Make sure you use capital letters and properly punctuate your abbreviations.) Use the Tab Key to move on to the next cell in the row and enter the abbreviation for Monday. Continue this process for the entire week Sunday through Saturday. Your last active cell should be H2. See the Example Below.
6. Using your mouse, click in cell A3 to activate it. Enter the label Date in this cell.
7. Move to the next cell using the Tab Key on the Keyboard. Enter the dates corresponding to that day from your Data Collection Sheet using this format Month/Day/Year. For example: 4/3/2011 .
8. Notice the dark box around the active cell with the small X in the lower right hand corner. Using your mouse, place the cursor on the small X on the corner and left click. While holding down the left mouse button drag the box all the way across the row to cell H3 and release the left click button on the mouse. Excel will automatically fill in the sequential dates for you. This will work for any data that follows a standard sequential pattern. This is an extremely handy, time saving shortcut.
9. Use mouse to navigate to Cell A4 and activate the cell by clicking in it. Type the following information in the cell
Actual High Temp in
10. At this point we must insert a symbol for degrees. To do this, use your mouse to select the Insert Menu from the Menu Bar. A drop down menu will appear. Select the Symbol option from this menu.
11. Follow the directions on the diagram to locate and insert the degree symbol.
12. Close the Insert Symbol box and notice that the Symbol for degrees now shows up in your information entry. Type a capital letter F for Fahrenheit. Your worksheet should now look like this.
13. At this point, it may be a good idea to save your work by clicking the floppy disk icon in the Standard Toolbar or using the Ctrl+S keyboard command. You may also use the Save command found in the File Menu.
14. Notice, once again the words flow over the unoccupied cells to the right, but we are going to be using those cells at this time to enter data so we need to make some adjustments. We will first change the size of the A column.
15. The text in the A column still does not quite fit, but we want to be able to print our table on a regular sheet of paper and we can't make it any wider so we must tell Excel to wrap the text in the cells in the A column. This is called formatting and requires the use of the Format Menu.
16. Follow the directions in the diagram to set Text Wrapping in the Column A Cells.
17. Now your text should fit well inside the A4 cell and you are ready to enter the data you collected for the actual high temps for each date. Use the Tab Key to move to the next cell on the right and enter the numerical value only (we have indicated the units in the row label). Continue this process until you have entered the actual high data for all seven days. (Remember the data in the example below will not match your data.)
18. I suggest saving your work after completing each data entry row. Continue entering Row Labels and data until you have completed the data entry for your first city. When complete your table should look something like this.
19. Once you have entered all of your data, you may want to do some minor tweaking. For example, I think I may make the A column a bit narrower by clicking on the line between the A and B columns and dragging it back toward the left a bit. I think I will also center the day and date headings over the data column. To do this I will click in the first cell I want to change the alignment in which is the Sun. cell. I then will hold the mouse button down, dragging the mouse across all the cells in which I want to change the alignment. Release left mouse button and then click the center align icon in the formatting toolbar.
20. Follow the same procedure to enter the data for your assigned city. Begin new table in Cell A15.